2023 Christmas Collage

2023

TRAVEL:  A year of being back to normal after COVID. We started the year with a road trip returning from our 2 month visit with Bethany and family in Tucson. On the way we arranged to visit as many people as possible on our western and northerly route back to Vermont, even catching up with Guy and Vicki after 36 years, friends from Rodney’s time in Bermuda.  We traveled in February/March on Sarah’s bucket list to Jordan/Israel/Palestine.  Thankfully we went this year.  What a tragedy in that part of the world.  In October we traveled to Iceland and fell in love with the landscape and the people.  We also managed a few trips to Tucson to see Otis and his parents.  

SARAH:  Sarah continues to volunteer in her retirement mostly with the local Unitarian Universalist Society and also for Agewell, an organization which allows seniors to age where they want.  I have a weekly Meal on Wheels route and some days I am the only person knocking on a person’s door.  I have become friends with some of my meal recipients. Our church starting feeding neighbors on Sunday Morning from 8-9am after we heard that there are not as many places on Sunday morning to get food.  Like many cities, Burlington has a lot of homelessness downtown and in addition to feeding them we also are building community and getting to know our neighbors.  It feeds my soul to be a part of this initiative.  

RODNEY: Rodney’s major outlet continues to be at his art studio just a short walk from our condo. After a very successful Art Hop in September he has decided maybe it’s time to get more serious about marketing his work. We’ll see how that works out. Keep your eye on his website to see what he’s up to. He got intrigued with the idea of doing an art residency in Akureyri, in Iceland.  https://rodneylowe.wixsite.com/rmlart 

In April he had his second knee replacement, and is now very happy to have two well functioning, pain free knees. It’s so nice to take Sofy for a walk and not grimace when we take a longer route. There was a slight hiccup when a month later he developed a DVT (blood clot), but after a few months on Eliquis and using compression socks when flying all seems to be well on that front. After terming out of his role as Board President of our condo association he realized that it was the first time in a decade or two that he wasn’t serving on a non profit board in some capacity or other. That didn't last too long, when he was nominated to serve on the board of our UU congregation here in Burlington. 

FAMILY: In June we had the joy of watching Bethany cross the stage at our UUA General Assembly in recognition of receiving Full Fellowship as a UU Minister.  In July we were blessed to have everyone but Bryan on Star Island for a week.  A 2 year old on Star is a challenge AND Sarah/Mémère got to nap with him most days.  Zuzu is 10 and halfway through the week I said to her, in front of Chris and Meg  “If your parents cannot come to Star we will always bring you.”  She is coming with us alone and found her peeps on Star this year at the Marine Lab, during the Great People Hunt and in her Gull group.  Magic to this Mémère’s ears.  Also in July we spent a week with Bethany, Otis and Bryan this time at Thompson's Point in our camp we share with 4 siblings.  Again Sarah got to nap with Otis many days.  Racing Demons (google it) is our new card game and watching him throw cards into the center of the table was hilarious.  

Also in July we were overjoyed to have a visit from Rodney’s niece Karen. After losing her mother and aunt and an uncle in 2022, it was a well deserved break for her, albeit a little poignant as we remembered those days she would have been here with some combination of those dead relatives.

Our move back to Vermont was such a good decision.  We see some family most weeks and get to watch one grandchild grow up and attend some activities with her and have impromptu sleepovers.  

We rounded out the family visits with a trip to Austria to see that branch of Sarah’s distant relatives. They were excellent hosts and the visit was made all the more fun by doing it with George and Judy, Ken and one of the young western cousins and his girlfriend. 

As this year ends we count our blessings every day and try to fight evil in the world by our actions and behaviors.  Our hearts break every day at the hurt in the world, and locally.  Rodney, Sarah and Sofy

 

A very different Seder last night

Last night we attended a Seder meal which was wonderful.  Friends from the building who are Jewish had most of their family and their cousin hosted the Seder.  I have attended Seders before in our Lexington Church AND this one was very different.  We had over 20 Haggadahs spread out on the table set for 22 people including a few very old ones from their grandparents. 

During the Seder multiple times a participant would consult a different Haggadah to support a thought or a position.  The back and forth among the participants, sometime in Hebrew and sometimes in English was so interesting.  I had never heard the 4 different children described although I had heard the questions that the children ask.  It also came up that Moses is never mentioned in a Haggadah and participants discussed why this might be.  They were all very thoughtful and clearly think a lot about the Torah and Haggadas not just during Passover.  

The food was amazing.  We started at 5:30 with appetizers since the dinner would not be until 9:30.  The company were so welcoming and I am fed spirituality especially having just come back from Israel.

I liked that no phones were allowed at the Seder so no images for this post.

The Children in Jordan - Israel - Palestine

Hanging in a Mosque in Bethlehem

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a succor for children.  I honestly thought that my mother kept having babies for me to take care of.  

He reached out to touch all our hands

The children we met in our journey were just amazing.  

The first one was a our home hosted meal in Amman Jordan.  We sat in the living room and clearly this special young man did not get to visit that room often.  He ran into the room, touching surfaces, with a gleeful smile on his face.  His father, mother and Grandmother tried to corral him but to no avail.

The second special group of young men were in Jerusalem on our FREE day where we just wandered around the Old City.  When we came upon them, they were flipping cards towards a wall.  I think the goal was to have your card be the closest one to the stone wall.  I don't know Hebrew but in my hand gestures I asked them the rules for the game.  One young man then started to show me his deck which were Football cards and he named the teams.  Arsenal I understood.  That is how you entertain yourself in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Another group wanting to try their English in Ceasaria

My most favorite visit was to the Beoudin family in Palestine.  When we arrived we met the Mom/Oma and her 5-6 children and some of their spouses.  There were 11 grandchildren wandering around with the oldest being about 5.  The way each child was taken care of was so tender and loving.  Each Mom held someone else's child and Ama almost always had a grandchild in her arms.  The picture of me is in the courtyard where I sat with twins and another couple of toddlers.  The one twin took my finger and rocked back and forth.  He did not care which finger he held.  The oldest, I think Ama took pictures of everyone around her with my favorite one being the picture of Rodney that took.  She then swiped through them to see the pictures she had taken.  

By far my most intimate experience was in Jericho as we were traveling up to the Mount of Temptations.  Some Muslim young women were taking pictures of us and giggling.  They were all asking the same question "What do you feel being here?".  I hung back when the rest of my group was starting to climb up and stopped to have a better conversation with them.  It turns out they knew their English better than they knew so I talked for about 10 minutes with them.  Here is the selfie of that experience.  I was not used to be such a spectacle.  Because of the media, fewer people are traveling to Palestine so there are a lot less of us to be seen.  

At Temple Rock there was a school group who were being led by a very talented teacher.  They were so engaged and so well behaved.  That session might have been better for me to attend than the adult one that I experienced.  I would love to have this teacher at their age.

Airport security and land security

This may cause alarm bells to go off somewhere in an airport somewhere.  OK, so be it.

We knew that there would be lines at the airport near Tel Aviv, at the end of our trip.  There were 6 of us all going to Newark so we hopped into a group security line.  This was pre-checkin, pre-anything.  

After waiting for about 20 minutes someone asked how many in our group and took my Sister in law forward to a desk to interview her.  The person apparently was Head of Security so he kept getting phone calls and interruptions.  He talked to SIL for about 10 minutes.  "Oh, you visited Palestine.  Did you talk to any Palestinians?"  I wonder how you spend 5 days in a country without talking to anyone so it is a good thing they did not ask me.  Lilli had her travel itinerary ready to give to them to show them where we had travelled, including home visits.  Good thing we did not send her forward.  He then came back to our group, and Judy said, My husband, by brother in law, my sister in law, my friend, my friend to identify our group.   Then Cindy was chosen to go forward.  "How long have you known these folks?" etc.  Cindy was a regulatory person in her career, so she knew to just answer the question, nothing else.  Again Lilli or I would not have been good to send forward.  He would have heard stories about our home visits, or about the day we viewed Nablus from an overlook in Hwara.  

This took us 1 hour to get through.  Then we went through the security checkpoint.  They literally wanted everything in our carry-ons.  Yup dirty underwear, every bottle in our cosmetic bag.  When Rod went through he was asked if he had any coins.  He throws extra coins from every trip we have ever been on.  That person found everyone in Rod's bag.  I really wonder what the value add it to this extent of security check.  While waiting to be checked the woman looked at our boarding time to queue us up.  The poor guy behind us, did not have one for an hour after us, and had to keep going back in line.

Did I feel safer after all this?  Mildly.  I wonder if Israel is just sending the message to the rest of the world that they maintain this level of security.  

Entering Israel 3 weeks earlier than this from Jordan was an interesting story as well.  Our Jordan guide had to leave us 2 miles from the border.  The bus driver drove us to the terminal that was immigration into Israel.  Nad said to us "Jordan does not do that much security because we know Israel will."  "Hands on passports" were his last words to us.

A person among us who will go unnamed and it was not me, got up to the desk at immigration and could not find her passport.  2 of our party had their bags pulled out to go through the scanner and the other 5 of us went through.  They would not allow the person without the passport to have anyone accompany her so we all kept our eye on her.  They finally let her go through without finding her passport.  We had an elementary school teacher among us who calmed us all down and gave us small tasks "You check her purse" "You go through her suitcase pockets" "Breath, and you go through your carryon". 

After 20 minutes and just as Rod was about to hit the send to let our Jordan guide know to check the bus, it was found in her pocket in her carry on.

The picture of the top was of us just after we found the passport with two very important negotiators watching over us.

But what do I say to them?

 An author friend of mine suggested I write a blogpost about this so here goes.

At First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington Vermont, since last October, every Sunday morning from 8-9am we have been having Sunday Morning Breakfast. This came about because the Meetinghouse Grounds group was meeting and two members said, "Not very many places serve meals to unhoused, or anyone else who shows up, on Sunday morning."

That was all a couple of us needed to set the wheels in motion.  Since October we have been there EVERY Sunday morning, even Christmas and New Years.  

We have a signup for congregants to make sandwiches, boil a dozen eggs, bring bananas etc.  One member also started collecting warm clothing when the Minister's husband handed his hat to a person one morning during a cold December day.

A few people have signed up to hand out the food and their question is "What do I say to them?"  At first I was also a bit uncomfortable about what to say as I handed out food, but my friend Sal is a model for connecting with everyone.  Her opening is often "I am Sal....." and usually the person will say their name.  

Sal and Bernie serving hot soup

It is more than that though.  It is greeting someone as a welcome friend, as you would greet anyone else you meet inside the building at social hour.  It is greeting them as though you will become their friend, as though they could teach you something important for you to know. It is conveying to them that they matter in order to make sense of this often crazy world. 

Some of them are disheveled or may have mental health challenges or have just spent a cold night outside AND they are part of our beloved community. We pass them on Church Street every day or walk past them sitting on benches in City Hall Park and they matter.  We all do. 

And they will become my friend and I will learn an incredible amount from them.  I just finished reading "What Happened to You" because a Sunday Morning Breakfast friend recommended it to me.  It has helped me immensely with past trauma in my life.  

SO, What do you? " Good Morning, glad you are here.  My name is Sarah.  (PAUSE........ ) Would you like a cup of coffee?"

The food, What took me so long to blog about this?

Just a salad prior to the main meal AND See the onion to use as a scoop?

I thought I was pretty familiar with Middle Eastern food before we went on this trip.  We eat a lot of hummus and pita and salads.  Well I was very surprised about what I did not know.

Every meal, 3 meals a day, we could have a variety of salads.  At sit down meals, we were served salads which easily could have been the entire meal AND then they brought out the main meal.  The salads were amazing, Turkish salad, Israeli salad, Red cabbage salad, garlic salad (this one we had at a restaurant in Bethany and I definitely need to replicate it).  

In Haifa, my second favorite restaurant on the trip

Once I got home for the first few days I repeated the salads to hang onto the memory of how good they were to eat and for us.

In Haifa, we visited a restaurant Villarica which had just been open for 2 days.  They touted their salads, and we were still early in the trip so we did not realize why.  Now we know why.  They had spectacular food as well, such that we went back a second night when we were on our own.  Ordering and paying for our meal the first night is an entirely different blog post.  Stay tuned.

In Tel Aviv, based on recommendations from a couple in our building we went to Balinjera, which was Ethopian.  This was probably one of the best meals we had.  It then caused us to research why there were so many Ethopians in Israel.  Operation Solomon

And the sweets.........one of the travelers had not had Halva before this trip.  She became the Halva lady.  Another woman loved hummus, any meal any time and she became the Hummus lady.  

In Tel Aviv our local guide asked us "What is Israel food?"  It was a trick question.  There is no Israeli food since Jewish people came from all over the world and brought their food back.  She brought us to a Hummus kiosk in the Carmel Market which had amazing hummus.  She also taught us to not waste the calories on pita bread and to use "leaves" of quartered onions to dip in the hummus.  We tried three different kinds once which had really soft eggplant inside the outer covering of hummus and one that had broken up falafel mixed in.

Some spectacular things we had were tamarind juice, fresh pomegranate juice, Bakar's Ice Cream in Rammaloh, a hummus restaurant in Haifa which had the moistest falafel and we watched it being deep fried.  

Owner of the best ice cream shop in Ramallah

In Nazareth, we went to a Schwarma place that was the equivalent of their fast food.  We also went to a spice shop there, which smelled amazing.  The clerk taught us about Mom's spice.  All the mothers there use 7 spices mixed in everything they cook so this particular shop calls it Mom's spice.

We also bought a small bag of some menthol crystals which we melted into water and sniffed it to cure our colds.  Definitely cleared out our sinuses.

Because of bad media this man has lost 5-6 busses 
cancelling a day

Appropriate restaurant in Israel

Home hosted meal at Christian Palestinian

In the Carmel Market, we sang YMCA with them.  They sang and danced all day

Home hosted meal in Jerusalem at Esther's house

The Halva lady and her patient husband

On the spot he made us Nutella and Labne in this bread

Where to buy the Mom's spice in Nazareth

Perfect timing I would say

I asked to take her picture.  "Whatever you want"

Meditating / Praying / Prcessing AND the houses of worship

I have not done an accounting yet AND I think we were in close to 40 houses of worship in 3.5 weeks. I guess it might be even more if we count some of the ruins of them.

Granted we were processing a lot of history, information, vistas, and complex human dynamic situations past, current and future.

For a start our guide in Jordan, Nad brought us into a mosque on our first day.  It was a Friday, and Friday noon prayers are the most important one of the week (I think I remember that correctly).  It was about 45 minutes before prayer and the carpet cleaner was busy vacuuming.  Nad knelt down in the middle, and we all sat crossed legged around him.  He pointed out on the carpet the lines where people praying knelt.  DUH!  I have been in mosques before but had never observed those.  Nad spoke very softly to not disturb others who were already getting themselves ready.  He pointed out the Arabic sayings in a circle around the walls just below the ceiling, the "Names and Attributes".  This was such a great introduction to mosques and Muslims.  

That noon call to prayer was the most powerful one for the entire trip.  All of the mosques in Amman announcing their calls to prayer, and us positioned on the hill near the Citadel listening to all the sounds.  

Mt. Nebo

After that for most of the houses of worship we entered, I was drawn to a seat/pew, folder my hands, closed my eyes and meditated.  It centered me, it calmed down my racing mind about something I had just heard that was outrageous or touching.  It slowed my heart down.  It allowed my heart to open to the next opinion we heard, or next invasion or genocide we heard about.  

In Abu Gosh in Israel, Issa actually showed us how he put his hands together, where he put them on his stomach and repeated the prayer.  After that I folded my hands the same way when I meditated.  As a Unitarian Universalist, this is creating my theology and spirituality from the world religions.  Pretty soon on our journey it did not matter whether it was a Romanian Church, Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic or sitting on a bench in a quiet part at the Israeli Museum. The meditation could take a few seconds or a few minutes.  I listened to what my mind and body needed.

Found this just walking around the Old City

Mosque in Bethlehem

Mount of Temptations